


Astral Ambience

by Nonchol



Series: Unrelated botw Oneshots [5]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: F/F, Gerudo Culture, Grief/Mourning, Parental Figure Urbosa (Legend of Zelda), Pre-Calamity (Legend of Zelda)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:01:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29180685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nonchol/pseuds/Nonchol
Summary: “The stars, vehvi, are reflections of the ones gone before us, of chieftains and heroines older than the sands and the dunes themselves. And though those stars, they guide and protect us with wisdom and strength, until our ashes pass on into the desert winds to guide with them.”-Urbosa has a complicated relationship with destiny. Pre-Calamity oneshot.
Relationships: Urbosa & Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Urbosa/Zelda's Mother (Legend of Zelda)
Series: Unrelated botw Oneshots [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2109756
Kudos: 26





	Astral Ambience

**Author's Note:**

> It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Just wrapped up finals week, so I’ll be able to write more.  
> I don't remember their being a specific religion for the Gerudo in botw so I admittedly had to look this one up. Apparently in botw they don’t really worship Hylia anymore, but sometimes pray to their own ancestors, so I hope this kinda makes sense in canon. I wanna branch out from just zelink oneshots, yk?  
> Hope you enjoy all the same :)

She was taught that the stars were to bring guidance, a heavenly answer of wisdom so clear and so easy that it would all simply click. She was taught that the stars were the key to everything and that, somehow, someway, they would see everything through.

_"Vehvi, my daughter, the destiny of our people, of our kingdom lies within the stars."_

But what good is a destiny of pain? Of grief? Of bloodshed and carnage?

And she could not help but wonder if her mother knew. If by some power, she understood her destiny. That she knew how it would all turn out.

Why can't I?

It was not the first time that she envied her wisdom, and she knew that a part of her always would, but now she could only sigh amongst the sand. She could only sit here within the oasis and pray.

"Mother-" her voice cut through the desert's silence. "I come here, asking for your guidance."

She did not come here often. Gerudo prayers were few and far between, but she came here for a reason. The books and her memories spoke of prayers of guidance and strength.

These days, guidance is all that we can ask for.

She sighed. Pulling herself down to sit on her knees, she dipped her head once more. Tonight she wore only the lightest of cotton shirts and trousers. Light enough to blow against the wind and to travel with ease. She was taught to come humbled before the spirits, without jewelry or gold and, so she had.

_If only it wasn't so…_

She struggled for the right word. 

_...Strange. I suppose._

She hadn't prayed in so long. Before, she could blame it on overworking and exhaustion but, now she was desperate for something, some sort of answer or guidance. That was what brought her to the oasis. Everything else had failed.

She could only sigh again. She knew better than to hang onto the spirits of the dead for answers.

And yet…

Yet she sat here anyway, her hands clasped together as she spoke.

"I-" her breath hitched. "I know that I haven't been here in so long, at least to speak with you, and I apologize for that. But I come asking for guidance, as you taught me to before."

How she missed her. She missed the way that her hands would run through her hair, the way that she would smile brighter than the full moon in the clearest of nights.

_How many people have we lost?_

Her mother, her grandmother, the queen. Even all this time, the loss stung just as sharp as it did before.

_"It'll never be the same, my little bird," she had told Zelda once, whipping away her tears and cradling her to her chest. "But she is here. It will get easier, I promise you."_

Did she even believe those words? After everything?

"And-" she tried to ignore the way that her voice shook. "-My love, I pray too that somehow you can hear me as well."

She was so tired. So exhausted. The feeling seeped through her limbs so suddenly that, without even thinking, she slumped against the palm tree.

Her legs still burned from where a lucky Lizophoes managed to strike. Her calfs felt raw from chasing Chuchos away from her town, and her arms ached and seared, but she was not foolish enough to hope that it was over. Such attacks would only increase, she knew that.

_But I can only fight back. Again and again._

She had tasted wine and she had tasted blood. Somewhere between it all they combined into a bitter cocktail that sat upon her tongue, thicker and as dense as a deadly poison. And in that burning taste, she had promised herself that, no matter what destiny threw at her, she would not allow her little bird to understand that poison. Not in a million years. That she could give.

_That I can promise._

She could at least search for clarity in that, in those little promises she made to herself. 

_It's easier to make those promises to myself. At least then I can know that they will be fulfilled._

But the queen had only ever spoken of hushed promises of simple peace. That fate would see itself out. That the promises of her Goddess would be fulfilled just because.

_“Please understand, Urbosa. I have to do this. For my kingdom. For all of Hyrule. It's my destiny."_

_"But what has your destiny given you, my love? Only grief? Only pain?"_

_The queen had only smiled, soft and somber. "Goddess willing," she had whispered, "It should not need to give me anything but peace."_

Peace was not a sickle to the back of her neck in the dead of night. Peace was not a kingdom left queenless in shambles.

But when had destiny given us anything we desired?

It had left them with only a prophecy of death and destruction and malice. It left them with only two children now destined to fight it off.

"I’m sorry," was what she eventually said, "That I couldn’t protect her as I promised you I would."

Her love had promised her that her Goddess Hylia would see it all though, and perhaps Urbosa could have been foolish in thinking this way, but Hylia had not granted her a fate of grace. She had not granted her little bird the destiny that she deserved, and Urbosa knew in her own breath she could not praise such a Goddess. 

_Perhaps then I am selfish. I am selfish for wanting a life for her that is not tarnished with hellfire and malice._

She could not pray to her. Not after everything. Not when she knew her mother, her ancestors, to be good and gracious in their promises. At least she knew them. At least they could be understood.

_Does that make any sense?_

She only sighed again. What did that matter?

"But I promise, my love. I'll do everything I can to see her through this."

The stars only shined back as bright and as glimmering as ever. She couldn't find any answer in them, and perhaps she never will.

_The dead will not give us answers; Only guidance._

If only it was easier. If only she could hear their voices and know.

The sky that she knew was heavy with soot, with a malice incarnate that whispered through the wind like sand. And in that sense, she could only fight on though for her kingdom. For whatever small hope remained that, by some miracle, they would come out standing against it all. That she would not be the last chieftain of her people.

"I can only ask," she finally said, "that after all this time, you continue to watch over me. Over us. And I pray that that is enough for us all."

She knew that, within a mere flicker, the Calamity could rise again. She knew that they rode on borrowed time, that the next day was never promised, but in the same breath, she would cherish every moment, as fleeting as they were.

"I pray that you will guide us though, as you have from the day that your ashes left with the wind, and eventually I will too join you."

The stars only shined back. Tonight, she was left answerless, just as she was before and she feared that she always would be.

**Author's Note:**

> If you can't tell Urbosa's my favorite champion.  
> I'm thinking about writing another oneshot that takes place after my Expendability fic if anyone's interested.  
> As always, feedback is appreciated!


End file.
